I was looking at my new copy of Empire Builder that has had a single play, and I noticed that there are indentations all over the board from where players had drawn track. You can only see them when looking at light reflected at an angle, but the board is covered in them.

I found this odd, since my 1984 copy that has had dozens of plays has no such problem. I'm curious how others' boards are looking after all this time.

I thought maybe it was just from pressing too hard or my china markers, but I took a brand new green crayon from the pack included with the game and drew a short line on my new copy of Eurorails, pressing relatively lightly. I wiped it off and saw a very obvious indentation on the board. I can imagine that using crayons would exacerbate the problem, since you have to press more firmly to get a decent line than with china markers.

It is rather odd. I played a four-player game of Eurorails with the same china markers and there were no indentations. I do one small test with a new crayon and it made an indent.

I don't think we have been pressing any harder than usual. I certainly have pressed rather hard over the years on my old version, testing out various crayons and such. The new boards must just be slightly softer.

I used a felt tablecloth that has a significant amount of give when the marks were made. When playing Eurorails, the game was with a plain tablecloth with no give. Then, when I tested Eurorails with the crayons, it was on the felt surface.

I played Eurorails on the felt surface last night, but used dry erase crayons instead and I see no new marks. However, this type of crayon needs much less pressure to draw.

I've played my old versions of the games dozens of times on the felt with no marks.

Also, the colors orange and purple have were discontinued by every USA manufacturer a few years ago. There is a company in Canada that still makes every color, and they are cheap, too! I contacted them and they sell china markers for about $5.50 per box of 12. Unfortunately, they charge $4 per box for shipping, so it works out to retail prices anyway.

I play at EPGS on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month and if you live in Eastern PA, Western NJ or Northern DE ... you should too!

dcorban wrote:

Also, the colors orange and purple have were discontinued by every USA manufacturer a few years ago. There is a company in Canada that still makes every color, and they are cheap, too! I contacted them and they sell china markers for about $5.50 per box of 12. Unfortunately, they charge $4 per box for shipping, so it works out to retail prices anyway.

They don't offer online ordering, as their business is intended for industrial clients. I emailed them and they sent me an invoice and their bank information. I would transfer the funds to their account and return the filled out invoice via fax.

If you play the game enough I would suggest purchasing a laminated board from Mayfair. You would use wet-erase markers on the board, and there are no seams, so every line is really clean. It dries in seconds, and will not come off unless you use a damp cloth. It's a little inconvenient when having to erase bridges when they collapse, but it's well worth dealing with when considering the ease of use.

If they are still available, the laminated boards were being offered for around 12 bucks.

I posted this somewhere, but you should skip the washables and go straight for the Crayola Dry Erase crayons. They are, by far, the best marker I have found for these games. The box includes an eraser "mitt". Accept no substitute.

I posted this somewhere, but you should skip the washables and go straight for the Crayola Dry Erase crayons. They are, by far, the best marker I have found for these games. The box includes an eraser "mitt". Accept no substitute.

I posted this somewhere, but you should skip the washables and go straight for the Crayola Dry Erase crayons. They are, by far, the best marker I have found for these games. The box includes an eraser "mitt". Accept no substitute.

What have you done to compensate for there being no black and for the yellow being so light as to be difficult to see?

I posted this somewhere, but you should skip the washables and go straight for the Crayola Dry Erase crayons. They are, by far, the best marker I have found for these games. The box includes an eraser "mitt". Accept no substitute.

What have you done to compensate for there being no black and for the yellow being so light as to be difficult to see?

You may be looking at the "bright" version of these crayons. There are two types, regular and bright. The bright ones come with neon-like colours. The regular type come with the standard colours.